Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy

Rated: M

Directed by: Michael Morris

Screenplay by: Helen Fielding with contributions by Abi Morgan and Dan Mazer

Based the Novel Written by: Helen Fielding

Produced by: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jo Wallett

Starring: Renée Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Leo Woodall, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, Isla Fisher, with Colin Firth and Hugh Grant.

‘It’s not enough to survive; you’ve got to live.’

Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy shows Mrs. Darcy (Renée Zellweger) at home with her two children, nine-year-old Billy (Casper Knopf) and four-year-old Mabel (Mila Jankovic).

Bridget is now a widow, coping with the chaos of raising two kids on her own.

In classic style, Bridget struggles with her zipper, the kids need their dinner and the house is about to catch fire.

Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) to the rescue.  To babysit the kids.

There’s still the same gang:  Shazzer (Sally Phillips), Jude (Shirley Henderson), Tom (James Callis) and Miranda (Sarah Solemani) to help remember Mark (Colin Firth) on the anniversary of his death.

Her friends help Bridget through, Jude weirdly licking the slice of orange on the side of her drink, all giving advice or saving her from advice or warning her about the dangers of labial adhesion from lack of use.

It’s time for Bridget to start again.

So when Miranda loads Bridget’s profile on Tinder, Bridget realises flirting is fun.  Particularly when a toyboy, enter Roxster (Leo Woodall), saves her kids from a tree.  And Bridget from her grief.

It’s all romance and funny moments; constantly giving the science teacher, Mr. Wallker (Chiwetel Ejiofor) the wrong impression like buying an assortment of condoms because who know what to buy after all this time, so why not a variety?

What I didn’t see coming were all the tearjerking moments.

Director Michael Morris states: “How do you make a movie that is quintessentially Bridget Jones, but which also engages with issues and emotions that these movies haven’t engaged with before? I latched onto the question of how Bridget, or how any of us, overcome something that feels unimaginable. I had this notion of creating a ‘comedy of grief.’ This is a film that wants to honor an experience that all of us are inevitably touched by.”

The film’s a roller coaster of emotions with notes of nostalgia.

The characters have grown older so there’s change, there’s life with children; there’s the unpacking of what’s important, still being naughty while being a mother, working, grieving and new beginnings.

The humour felt heavy handed at times, but that was the beginning, that opening of forced jovial moments with the kids.

But I was won over with Daniel’s naughty nun comments.

And although the humour was still there, (fuck, I mean fuck-catia…  Did you eat all the focaccia?) this instalment of Bridget Jones was more about the change in Bridget’s life.  There’s antics, but it’s the emotional change that was the overriding feeling.

 

PRESENCE

GoMovieReview Rating: ★★★Presence

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Written by: David Koepp

Produced by: Julie M. Anderson, Ken Meyer

Starring: Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang, Julia Fox, Eddy Maday, West Mulholland.

‘What was it like, do you think?’

Filmed from the point of view of the presence, there’s a perspective of looking out a window to then turn inside a house, to wander the empty rooms.

A family of husband and wife, and two teenaged children arrive.

The mother, Rebekah (Lucy Liu) is the decision maker of the family.  She makes an offer on the house.

The daughter, Chloe (Callina Liang) asks, ‘Does anyone else get a vote?’

Chloe looks towards the screen, the camera, towards the presence, knowing something is in the house.

She calls out, ‘Nadia?’ Wondering if her recently deceased best friend has returned.

The family don’t believe Chloe, her brother Tyler (Eddy Maday) angry, not wanting Chloe to ruin his cool at school with Ryan (West Mulholland) now his friend.

And then Chloe’s boyfriend.

Talking about her best friend dying, Eddy asks, ‘What was it like, do you think?’

‘I have no idea.’

The beginning of the film is silent.

The dialogue the soundtrack so it feels like a stage production.

The presence attached to the house means the film is entirely filmed in the house so the storyline is the interactions between the family, that’s slowly falling apart.

‘It’s OK to go too far for the people you love,’ says Rebekah to her favourite, her son Tyler.

The father, Chris (Chris Sullivan), tries to keep an eye on Chloe as she grieves.

But it’s the presence who sees everything.

This is a stark film that took a while to become something creepy, not because of the ghost aspect, but the quiet build of something not right.

It’s a unique device, using a subjective camera as point of view for the presence, director Steven Soderbergh states: ‘We want to see the reaction of the character that we’re supposed to invest in. And I’ve been convinced you don’t have a movie if you don’t have that — if you can’t see what the character’s feeling emotionally, you don’t have a movie. But here I am literally tearing down the structure that I’ve built. And my only justification is: Here, if you did a reverse, there wouldn’t be anything to see.’

There’s success with this unusual perspective because the strong performance from each character makes the presence believable.

Using the subjective camera within one location is the foundation of the film.  Writer Koepp states,’ I love a restriction. “It’s 24 hours.” Or “it’s one long road trip.” Or, in this case, “It’s all in the same house,” It’s a sort of creative Hays Code that restricts your thinking and therefore opens up your thinking.’

It’s just not a vastly entertaining film.  I’d even go as far as saying the first half of the film was boring.  But then it becomes something else like an underlying need for control.  It creeps up.

Worth a watch.

Companion

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★ Companion

Rated: TBA

Directed by: Drew Hancock

Written by: Drew Hancock

Produced by: Zach Cregger, Raphael Margules, J. D. Lifshitz, Roy Lee

Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, Lukas Gage, Megan Suri, Harvey Guillén and Rupert Friend.

‘Smile.  Act happy.’

Josh (Jack Quaid) and Iris (Sophie Thatcher) are the perfect couple.

They meet in a grocery store where Josh fumbles his way into Irises heart.

It’s a sweet, meet cute.

‘I just want you to be happy, Josh,’ Iris tells him.

Then the relationship begins to fray.

The love a little needy.

Josh, despondent to Irises attention.

When Josh and Iris drive out to an isolated lake house to spend time with Josh’s friends, Cat (Megan Suri) and her rich Russian boyfriend, Sergey (Rupert Friend) and Eli (Harvey Guillen) with partner Patrick (Lukas Gage), Iris is afraid she’ll embarrass Josh.

Josh tells her to smile, act happy.

She does her best.

The innocent Iris who couldn’t lie, even if she wanted to, is someone to feel sorry for.

Until the doll made to serve turns up covered in someone else’s blood.

There’s twists and turns in Companion, with moments of violence amongst the tongue and cheek; comments like, ‘I know it must be a lot to process.’

Companion feels a little like a Barbie version of, Ex Machina with the subtitles of manipulation replaced with overtones of domestic violence.

Yet the tone of the film is light, holding back on the ridiculous so it’s a watchable film but made more for entertainment than depth.

Or if there was depth, it wasn’t a message that resonated.  Maybe something like, Beware of treating your partner like a doll because they might grow a brain and turn on you.

So, I guess there’s something in that.

 

Wolf Man

GoMovieReview Rating: ★★★1/2 Wolf Man

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Leigh Whannell

Written by: Leigh Whannell and Corbett Tuck

Produced by: Jason Blum p.g.a

Starring: Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, Sam Jaeger, Matilda Firth, Benedict Hardie, Ben Prendergast, Zac Chandler, Beatriz Romilly and Milo Cawthorne.

‘It’s my job to protect you.’

There’s a build to Leigh Whannell’s reimagined Wolf Man.

Set in rural Oregan, Blake (Christopher Abbott) is living a farm life with his father.

There’s a, ‘No Trespassing, there’s nothing here worth dying for,’ sign on the gate.

It’s 1995.

At 07:00, father and son go hunting only to find themselves stalked by a creature just out of sight.  Only a movement, a glimpse through the crosshairs of a shotgun.  A growl.

Hiding, father and son see the condensation of breath rising above a door with scratch marks left as a warning.

It’s a frightening existence, a young boy growing up with a survivalist father communicating with a neighbour via radio about the sighting of the creature seen just out of sight like an apparition.

As soon as he’s old enough, Blake leaves the land to move to the city where 30 years later he lives with his successful journalist wife Charlotte (Julia Garner) and young daughter, Ginger (Matilda Firth).

Currently ‘in between’ jobs, Blake dedicates his life to looking after his daughter.

After his missing father is presumed dead, the house in Oregan is left to Blake.

To try and close the distance growing between husband and wife, Blake convinces Charlotte that going to the farm would help bring the family closer together.

Until a single scratch makes a once loving dad and husband become a monster.

Returning with another universal classic monster character after the success of his previous monster film, ‘The Invisible Man,’ Whannell states, ‘These classic monsters have endured for a reason […] Something about them is just too fascinating, creepy and mysterious to go away.’

There’s a clever device used here, to show the infection taking hold of Blake, with the light focusing on the monster he’s about to become.

He’s dying but doesn’t know it yet.

Words become jumbled but sounds are amplified so even the crawl of spider legs across a wall beat a heavy drum.

Even the perspective of a car accident is at an angle so the audience can feel the characters’ upturned world.

Working with cinematographer Stefan Duscio, the evolution of the infection is shown by adjusting the lighting using different lenses, so Blake’s night vision is seen in contrast to how his family sees the world, sees him, changing.

So the audience can see both sides of the evolution, Whannell stating, ‘One would live in the human world, and one in the animal one.’

The idea of a werewolf remake wasn’t very exciting to me, and the family drama felt heavy handed at times, but I was won over by Whannell’s focus on the evolution of infection rather than a monster baying at a full moon.

Whannell’s signature jump scares, and what I appreciated the most, the  perspective of change as the family becomes more terrified of their once loving husband and father makes, Wolf Man worth a watch.

Paddington In Peru

GoMovieReview Rating: ★★★★Paddington In Peru

Rated: PG

Directed by: Dougal Wilson

Produced by: Rosie Alison

Based on the Character, Paddington Bear, Created by: Michael Bond

Screen Story by: Paul King, Simon Farnaby, Mark Burton

Screenplay by: Mark Burton, Jon Foster and James Lamont

Starring: Hugh Bonneville, Emily Mortimer, Antonio Banderas, Olivia Colman, & Julie Walters with Ben Whishaw & Imelda Staunton as the voices of ‘Paddington’ & ‘Aunt Lucy’.

‘When skies are grey, hope is the way’ – Aunt Lucy.

The third instalment of the Paddington franchise opens a few bears ago…

Amongst the ferns and red flowers (not the spiky red ones, that comes later) is a sniffing bear cub, reaching for one, lone, enticing orange, right at the end of a branch.  He reaches until the branch snaps…

Paddington in Peru unpacks Paddington’s origin story.  Of how he became lost, only to be found by Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton).

But now, Aunt Lucy is lost.

Receiving a letter from the Mother Superior (Olivia Colman) who looks after Aunt Lucy in the Home for Retired Bears in Peru, Paddington (Ben Whishaw) decides he must return to his birthplace to find the one who found him.  Took care of him.  Who said, ‘If you ever get lost again, roar and I’ll roar right back.’

It’s just what the Brown family needs.  An adventure.  Together.

Mrs. Brown (Emily Mortimer) is struggling with the changes in the family, the children drifting away with Judy (Madeleine Harris) applying for university and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin) locked up in his room, inventing gadgets so he can spend more time chilling.

Mrs. Brown misses those years when the family would hang out together on the sofa, the ‘sofa years.’

Mr. Brown’s (Hugh Bonneville) new boss at the insurance company wants to embrace risk, so a dangerous trip to Peru sounds just the ticket, in spite of his risk averse nature.

When they meet river boat captain, Hunter (Antonio Banderas), along with his daughter Gina (Carla Tous), to hire a boat for their journey, the Brown family are quickly introduced to the perils of the amazon jungle.  Did I mention the spikey red things?  And the generational madness of Captain Hunter’s gold fever.

Paddington in Peru is a story of coming from somewhere but making another place home, of children flying the nest, of understanding and embracing change while holding on to what matters, family.

New director Dougal Wilson brings the same inventiveness as the previous Paddington films directed by Paul King, with the montage of moving painted portraits, the Brown family home shown as a doll’s house and ghosts brought to life like a fever dream.

Dougal states, ‘I thought it would be great fun to continue the style that Paul King had so brilliantly set up, using the feeling that the stories created in London and applying that to a place that wasn’t London. I aimed to bring that style, tone, and inventiveness to Peru.’

This film is filled with the green of the amazon and the heady views from ancient sites with filming locations from Machu Picchu, Huayna Picchu, Centre of Lima, Cerro San Cristobal, Cusco – Maras Town, Cusco – Maras Fields, Palccoyo Mountain, Abra Malaga, Santa Maria Road, Amparaes, Yanatile Road, Cusco Quillabamba – Sant Maria, Cusco Quillabamba – Santa Teresa Road.

There’s also that classic humour with Mr. Brown trying to be tough with his hard walk, a bow legged, hands-on-hips ramble he also employs when the plumber comes around.

Paddington narrates the storyline as he writes his letter so there’s that genuine heartfelt interpretation of the goings on, Ben Whishaw returning as the voice of Paddington so it would be impossible to imagine any other voice for the lovable bear.

Antonio Banderas brings his suave brand to the character of Mr. Hunt and his ancestors, the resemblance lending hilarious moments to his gold madness.

And, Onward Christian soooldiers, Olivia Colman as the Mother Superior has the facial expressions to show the multifaceted, nothing-suspicious-going-on-here, shenanigans of an innocent, not-so-innocent, nun.

The whole production is detailed to delight and a whole lot of fun, with yes, a few tearful moments.

I can’t quite give a higher rating than Paddington 2.  Hugh Grant owned his character, the villain-of-many-disguises, Phoenix Buchanan, and I was chuffed to see his cameo here in Paddington 3.

But Paddington in Peru does not disappoint and is a good time, for, well, everyone.

Nat’s Top 5 Movies for 2024

Top 5 Movies of 2024Who needs to go on a rollercoaster when all you had to do was survive 2024?

There have been movies that have blown me away, Denis Villeneuve deserves a special mention, and there’s been some painful flops that left me scratching my head; Megalopolis and Joker: Folie À Deux pushing the boundaries, in my opinion, without success.

Then there’s the body horror of, Substance, and the not quite making it to my list, Longlegs, Heretic, Better Man and Monkey Man that are worth a watch.  And then there’s Wicked Part I that I enjoyed in spite of myself.

But when it comes to recommendations, I’ve compiled a Top 5 List that had me smiling, crying, shaking with hands in front of face to mouth agape at the spectacle that is the best cinema of 2024.

5. THE APPRENTICE Political / Drama Review ★★★★

4. THE PROMISED LAND Drama / Foreign Review ★★★★

3. CIVIL WAR Action / War Preview Review ★★★★

2. THE WILD ROBOT Animation / Family Review ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)

  1. DUNE: PART TWO SciFi/Political/Thriller Review ★★★★1/2

Worth a watch:

HERETIC Psychological Horror Preview Review ★★★☆ (3.8/5)

WICKED PART ONE Fantasy / Drama Preview Review ★★★☆ (3.8/5)

LONGLEGS Crime / Horror Preview Review ★★★☆ (3.8/5)

MONKEY MAN Action / Thriller Preview Review ★★★★

BETTER MAN Musical / Drama Preview Review ★★★★

Better Man

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★★Better Man

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Michael Gracey

Written by: Simon Gleeson, Oliver Cole, Michael Gracey

Produced by: Craig McMahon, Coco Xiaolu Ma, Jules Daly, Paul Currie p.g.a

Starring: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvaney, Frazer Hadfield, Tom Budge and Anthony Hayes.

‘Let me entertain you.’

Inspired by the true events of Robert Williams’ life, Robbie Williams’ beginning was a humble one.

Back in 1982, grubby and deprived, Robert is facedown in the mud.

The local kids tell him, ‘You really are useless, aren’t you?’

‘You’re a fucking nobody.’

But his nan (Alison Steadman) loved him.

‘I wouldn’t change a hair on your head,’ she tells him.

It says a lot that the film has Robbie as a monkey.

Robbie says the best thing his, Take That manager, Nigel Martin-Smith (Damon Herriman) did was change his name from Robert to Robbie because then he had a name to hide behind.

But he’d do anything to be in that spotlight, even if it terrified him.

Director, Michael Gracey states, ‘Robbie would say things like, “I’m up the back dancing like a monkey.” After a while, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be amazing to represent Robbie as a monkey in the film?” Because Robbie is telling this story – and that’s how he sees himself.’

Growing up with his mum (Kate Mulvaney) and nana, Robbie idolized his dad (Steve Pemberton), also a performer.  He tells Robbie, ‘You’re either born with it or you’re a nobody.’

Robbie was terrified of being a nobody.

The film doesn’t hold back from telling the story of Robbie’s life.

Robbie learnt early that it wasn’t just talent that made you famous, it was being a smart arse on stage that went a long way to helping that rise to fame a reality.

Signing with, Take That at 15, Robbie thought he’d blown the audition.  It was being a smart arse, telling Nigel Martin-Smith that he’d tell the rest of the contenders to go home, ending the statement with a wink, that got him the spot in the hugely successful boy band.

He’d finally found his place.  His freedom.

Until his demons started showing up in the audience.

Those demons getting him kicked out of the band because of his need for substances to give him the courage to get up on stage.

The bad boy.

The insecure boy.  Stunted at 15.

The journey of his life is shown in Robbie’s music and a continual rollercoaster that flowed from one scene to the other like table lamps lighting, one to the other across the room.

Like black water rising from the floor to drown the man always hiding.

‘My life always seems to be a tightrope act with no safety harness,’ admits Williams. ‘I could fall off at any moment and a lot of the time I do.’

There’s an edge to that chaotic feeling throughout the film, those lurking demons give the film an understanding of the pressure Robbie was under, what he had to fight every time he performed.

But there’s also a lot of fun here, like the merch of, Take That featuring babushka dolls where one boy goes into another, ‘for the foreign fans.’

Everyone loves a smart arse redemption story, and this one is vastly entertaining.

As introduced at the premiere by producer Paul Currie, Gracey is genius in opening a window into Robbie Williams’ life.

And there’s brutal truth to it, but also a warm heart.

Nosferatu

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)Nosferatu

Rated: TBA

Written for the Screen & Directed by: Robert Eggers

Inspired by the Screenplay: NOSFERATU by Henrick Galeen

and the Novel DRACULA by Bram Stoker

Produced by: Jeff Robinov, John Graham

Produced by: Chris Columbus, p.g.a., Eleanor Columbus, p.g.a., Robert Eggers, p.g.a.

Starring: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Aaron Tayor-Johnson, Willem Dafoe, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Simon McBurney.

What is the dark trauma that even death cannot erase? A heartbreaking notion. This is at the essence of the palpable belief in the vampire. The folk vampire is not a suave dinner-coat-wearing seducer, nor a sparkling, brooding hero. The folk vampire embodies disease, death, and sex in a base, brutal, and unforgiving way. This is the vampire I wanted to exhume for a modern audience.

-Robert Eggers

‘Blood is the life.’

Come to me, come to me.

You, you.

The wind blows through the sheer curtains.

I swear, she promises.

It’s a dreamy yet stark beginning; the girl, Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) in a trance as she awakens Nosferatu (Bill Skarsgård) from his slumber to become an awoken corpse, walking upon the earth.

A corpse with appetites.

There’s a nightmarish quality to this gothic tale.  This is not a romantic version of a vampire story.  This vampire is a plague.

Jumping from 1830s Baltic Germany to years later shows Ellen married to Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult).

Newly home from their honeymoon, Thomas’ employer, Herr Knock (Simon McBurney) sends Thomas into the depths of Transylvania to complete a transfer of title to an ancient descendant from a long blood line; the count described as, eccentric.

For extra money, Thomas is willing to go even as Ellen begs him not to.

It’s the travelling to Count Orlok’s (Nosferatu) castle that mesmerises; the silence of Thomas walking down a road through an ancient forest as snow falls.

The beat and chink of horses pulling a carriage through the dark, the tilt as the world shifts, the perspective bending to the will of Nosferatu as the carriage door slowly opens an invitation.

Then the wolves that follow.

It’s an invitation to a new world that’s dark, where fire casts shadows of reaching fingers and pointed nails and nightmares of blood.

The soundtrack feeds the mood of foreboding, the rise and fall of breath.

It’s moody movie.

Composer Robin Carolan states, ‘There’s a lot of dread and claustrophobia in the film.  The score helps with the feeling of escalation, and of this thing that you can’t quite see but that you sense is closing in on you.’

Nosferatu knows Thomas is married to his bride.  Nosferatu travels across the ocean to reclaim Ellen.  She knows he’s coming.

Inspired by the Screenplay: NOSFERATU by Henrick Galeen and the Novel DRACULA by Bram Stoker, there’s the same lines of story, the travel of the husband to Transylvania to transfer the deed of a new home, the long-lost love.

There’s the best friend, here, Anna Harding (Emma Corrin) who wants to protect Ellen from the call of the monster.

But this is an inspiration not an adaptation so there’s something new here.

Unlike the tease of humour in the Frances Coppola film, like the unforgettable scene where a vampire’s head is cut off, a gruesome scene, that cuts to the professor tucking into a roast dinner – a well-timed shock to evoke a giggle.  There’s no humour here in Nosferatu.

This is cinematic horror.

There’s a spare feeling to the angles of panning, the movement of characters, the endless corridors of a castle that resonates with Bram Stoker’s classic novel, where Nosferatu is nothing more than a monster.

Collaborating with production designer Craig Lathrop, cinematographer Jarin Blaschke, costume designer Linda Muir, and editor Louise Ford, all of whom worked on The Northman, The Lighthouse, and The Witch, Eggers has created something that builds into a vision both magical and horrific.

Piece By Piece

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2Piece By Piece

Rated: TBA

Directed by: Morgan Neville

Produced by: Mimi Valdes, Pharrell Williams

Original Songs by: Pharrell Williams

Original Score by: Michael Andrews

Animation Director: Howard E. Baker

Written by: Morgan Neville, Jason Zeldes, Aaron Wickenden, Oscar Vazquez

The Collaborators: Shae Haley, Chad Hugo, Pusha T, Timbaland, Missy Elliot, Teddy Riley, Busta Rhymes, N.O.R.E, Jay-Z, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Daft Punk, Kendrick Lamar.

‘Everyone wants you to win.’

Opening another Universal LEGO® animation world, a handheld cam follows a LEGO® Pharrell William as he enters a room to sit opposite Morgan Neville to talk about his life.

This is a LEGO® movie with a difference.

“You probably think I’m out of my mind,” Pharrell says, chuckling. The musician, mega producer and multi-hyphenate artist is speaking about what he hopes for his film, Piece By Piece — to be an instrument of unity, to inspire people of all ages and stripes, to tell people that they really could wake up tomorrow and build their dreams, piece by piece.

“The only caveat is that after we shoot it, I don’t want to use the footage,” Pharrell remembers telling his agent. “I just want to use the audio.”

Piece by Piece is a documentary, in LEGO®.

This is a history of Pharrell’s life, of his contribution to Hip Hop, his clothing brand, Billionaire Boys Club, then Billionaire Girls Club, to the music scene and how his beats became famous worldwide like:

T’S HAPPENING, MAYBE, I WISH, FUNKYTOWN, SEÑORITA, BLURRED LINES (FEAT. T.I. AND PHARRELL), MY PEROGATIVE, VIRGINIA BOY, RUMP SHAKER, HOLLABACK GIRL, GOD BLESS US ALL, ROCK STAR, TUBTHUMPIN, BONITA APPLEBUM, EVERYONE NOSE (ALL GIRLS STANDING IN THE LINE FOR THE BATHROOM), NOTHIN’, SPLASH, KNOCK YOURSELF OUT, SHAKE YA ASS, L’EGO ODYSSEY, HELLA GOOD, LIKE I LOVE YOU, LOOKIN’ AT ME (FEATURING PUFF DADDY), SUPERTHUG, I JUST WANNA LOVE U (GIVE IT 2 ME), HOT IN HERRE, DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT (W/ PHARRELL), PASS THE COURVOISIER PART II, GRINDIN’, BEAUTIFUL (FEAT. PHARRELL & UNCLE CHARLIE WILSON), SOONER OR LATER, FRONTIN’ (CLUB MIX), I’VE SEEN THE LIGHT / INSIDE OF CLOUDS, GET LUCKY (FEAT. PHARRELL WILLIAMS AND NILE RODGERS), HAPPY (FROM THE FILM DESPICABLE ME 2), ALRIGHT, PIECE BY PIECE, PURE IMAGINATION (from WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY), FOR REAL.

The soundtrack is what makes this film.  And the idea of music creating colours in Pharrell’s mind.  He has a condition, sound-color synesthesia or chromesthesia.

Growing up, Pharrell thought everyone related to music in the same way – music seen in colours.

He didn’t do well in school.  But his grandmother knew he would be good at music.

There’s a fascinating backstory here, that lends itself to the LEGO® world, the assistant blown away by Pharrell’s beats so his LEGO® head pops off, the parents browsing through LEGO® photo albums and the beach is the flow of small LEGO® pieces, a mix of white and blue to create waves.

Pharrell was obsessed with water growing up in Virginia Beach, where Pharrell and his mates, ‘just loved doing music.’

Then fate brought famous producer Teddy Riley to town.

Hearing Pharrell perform at a high school talent show in 1991, Riley knew he was hearing something unique when Pharrell went from rapping to playing the drums to singing.

Pharrell grew up with the idea of, What if nothing’s new?  That you’re borrowing from colours that already existed?

By combining two different ideas, he found he could create something new.  He created until suddenly, everyone wanted his beats.

There’re appearances from: Shae Haley, Chad Hugo, Pusha T, Timbaland, Missy Elliot, Teddy Riley, Busta Rhymes, N.O.R.E, Jay-Z, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, Daft Punk, Kendrick Lamar.

All LEGO®.

Two pieces, a light shining set next to another LEGO® represent a new beat.

It’s all creativity.  Of the magic of the hood, where ideas come from the future.

It’s an autobiography told in pieces.  An idea that was unique in itself, but in the end became a meandering philosophy of how best to serve this thing called life.

Not a usual LEGO® movie but more a contemplation of a life using the LEGO® world to explain an idea, to see through different eyes, like Pharrell and his colours.

As documentaries go, this has to be one of the most creative.

Heretic

GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★☆ (3.8/5)Heretic

HERETIC

Rated: MA15+

Directed by: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods

Written by: Scott Beck, Bryan Woods

Produced by: Stacey Sher, Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, Julia Glausi, Jeanette Volturno

Starring: Hugh Grant, Sophie Thatcher, Chloe East, Topher Grace, Elle Young.

‘How do you feel about awkward questions?’

Seeing Hugh Grant play a villain in a horror movie is a bit of a treat, especially when he flexes his storytelling skills.

Meet, Mr. Reed.  A man in search of the one true religion.

Mormon missionaries, Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) take a break from door knocking and looking to recruit converts to sit on a bench, facing a huge mountain talking sex and if the magnum condom is actually as advertised, massive.

It’s two innocent girls talking about something unexpected yet gives insight into their character – Sister Paxton showing a naive curiosity, Sister Barnes from the streets of Philadelphia with a tougher backstory where she lost her dad to illness.

After tolerating yet another humiliating show of people’s dislike or misunderstanding of their calling, ‘they think we’re weird,’ the two Sisters’ ride their bikes through the snow and rain to knock on the door of a potential convert.

Sister Paxton can barely hide her determination.

It’s the little things that hint of Mr. Reed’s intention.

‘I’ve never had a Wendy.  I mean, met a Wendy.’

The film’s foundation is word play, dialogue and the dance of theological argument; but the build of suspense is about the close up of the eyes, the sharpness of a look.  Of looking too closely.

The tension builds with the back and forth between the Sisters as they come to understand the game Mr. Reed is playing is a trap.  And it’s the realisation of the game Mr. Reed has trapped them into playing that heightens the suspense – the surprise of each character as they reveal themselves in dialogue that twists through intellectual debate about religion in order to navigate a way through the psychology of a madman who has gotten lost in his search of the one true religion.

He’s not wrong.  And neither are they.

It becomes a matter of argument.  Of faith.

Most of the film is set in the house of Mr. Reed.  A deceptively simple stop to highlight the dialogue and closeups of facial expressions.  To show the fear of: Belief or Disbelief.

Both are terrifying.

Hugh Grant states, ‘I found Heretic to be daring, not just because it questions a lot of things that many people hold sacred, but for the fact that it’s set in one house over the course of one long night and features a lot of talking — hardly normal practice for a horror film.’

The house itself becomes part of the game.

Director and writer, Scott Beck (also screenwriter, along with Bryan Woods of, A Quiet Place (2018)) states, “We had to figure out the psychology of Reed early on in order to understand why his house appears the way it does, serving as a kind of weapon against his young visitors,” says Beck. “Reed is God-playing in a way, pulling these characters through each room so it feels like a gauntlet or a game, consistently evolving to worse and worse places. It became about marrying the character of Reed with the production design and finding a methodology behind it to show how his mind works.”

Heretic is unique in that it’s a storyteller thriller.  Not explosive but a well-rounded creeping poetry based on theological argument from a man driven mad by the search for meaning.

For me the film peters out a little at the end but as Beck states, ‘Hugh has quietly become one the greatest character actors working today,’ making Heretic worth a watch.

 

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